


in orbit

by mydearmoon



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Light Angst, Okay but what if Beth wanted to be an astronaut, Triple Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29370912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydearmoon/pseuds/mydearmoon
Summary: A triple drabble, built around “No? What you wanna be, then? A fireman? Astronaut?”
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	in orbit

Beth wanted to be an astronaut.

They learned about the solar system in grade school, and she had diligently memorized the planets in order.

_Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto._

(Pluto counted back then, she’ll continue to count it now)

So, from the ages of nine to twelve, Beth borrowed every book in the children’s section about space. She devoured them quickly and eagerly, and eventually the librarian started showing her “more grown up books” and bookmarking pages she might enjoy.

A galaxy, light-years, billions and billions of stars. It was vast and beautiful and wondrous, and most importantly, so very different from her life at home with distant parents, and a little sister who just simply _needed her_.

But that childhood dream drifted and collapsed as Beth ended up the most dependable person in her family, all before entering high school. In a strange way, she became the sun, with duties and responsibilities in orbit around her. And only more obligations and expectations joined in as she got older, becoming who she is now: In her forties, no work history, with a screw-up husband, and children and family who _depend on her_ to _keep this life together_.

So when Rio takes a quick dig at her, saying, “No? What you wanna be, then? A fireman? _Astronaut_?” Beth is met with a surge of memories - her astronaut ambitions, the late nights spent stargazing, the deep longing she had to explore a new, far away world.

There is a brief moment where she almost confesses to Rio, “Yes,” but the thought quickly retreats back into that forgotten space it’s been relegated to.

Because Beth is bound to her system, and they are bound to her, and what they need from her is to _be good_ _and_ _fix this_.

**Author's Note:**

> I quite like the idea that Beth actually *did* want to be an astronaut, but expectations and life demanded something else from her instead 😭💔🌠 So, 300 words to explore that idea for now....a series of space-y drabbles one day, maybe?


End file.
